And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Romans 13:11-14, NKJV

This is the fifth message in my series on the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-17. Ephesians 6:10 says to take the helmet of salvation. A helmet is meant to protect our heads. Our mind is the battlefield where Satan attacks us the most. When we don’t cast down the lies he tells us, we welcome him in to set up strongholds in our minds. If we don’t put on our helmets of salvation and guard our minds, we’ll start to believe his lies.

John 8:44says the devil: “was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Satan has sewn countless lies in the minds of man since the beginning of creation. I was talking to my sister last year. I told her I wanted to buy this one royalty free picture for the cover of my first book, but the company wouldn’t allow me to because my book was Christian. We talked about how sad it was that God’s creation denies Him. We can’t freely talk about our Creator because He’s considered “controversial.”

God is real. Jesus is real. Heaven and hell are real. Whether we want to believe that or not, it’s the truth.

Salvation is only found in accepting Jesus’ atonement for our sins. Anything the world says other than that is a lie. Satan wants the world to believe his lies. He knows his fate. He knows he can’t beat God. His only way to get at God is to drag us down with him. Satan knows it’s excruciating for God to watch His precious creation die separated from Him. Satan’s mission is to deceive the world into denying the existence of God so they ignorantly follow him to his fate.

When I first started following Christ and started reading the Bible I was shocked at how many lies I believed. It took many years for God to tear down all the lies the enemy sowed in my mind.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

We are not supposed to think and act like the world does. The world is blinded by Satan’s deception. When we follow their ways, it’s like the blind leading the blind.

Jesus said, “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.”

Luke 6:39

Do we want the world to be our teacher so we can be like them? Or do we want Jesus to be our teacher so we can be like Him?

To renew our minds we need to start filling our minds with the Word of God. God has given us His Word to tear down the lies Satan sows in our minds. I wrote a message recently on my blog titled “Renewing Our Minds.” I shared how I did a study once on renovating my mind using Nehemiah 1-6 and rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. My intention was to renovate my mind by stripping off my old carnal mind and replacing it with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). Once I tore down all the lies and replaced them with the truth of God’s Word, I explained that I couldn’t let my guard down. I have to continually keep my mind filled with the Word of God so there’s no room for deception.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

A couple years ago, I noticed my daughter was becoming negative toward herself. It started happening more frequently and I became very concerned. One day she broke down in tears crying about how bad she was.

One of the things she was negative about was her schoolwork. She said she wasn’t smart. She couldn’t read good enough. She wasn’t good at anything. It suddenly hit me as God revealed what was happening. I asked her, “What does God say about you?” I began sharing all the things God says about her. I told her that God says we can do ALL things through Him who gives us strength. He equips us with everything we need to be the best we can be. I explained to her that we are each gifted in a different way to do what God’s called us to do.

I said to her, “If God says these things about you, those things you believe are lies.” I told her that Satan tells us lies. I asked her if she was going to believe what Satan says over what God says. She looked at me and right away said, “No!”

That moment she tore down the lies the enemy sowed in her mind. She recognized the lies, and chose to believe the Truth. Once she made that choice, she was back to her happy, joyful self.

God has given us everything we need in His Word to expose Satan’s lies and continually guard our minds against his deception.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

Lord,

Thank you for showing us the Truth. Help us to submit our minds to You and cast down Satan’s lies. Help us to tear down every stronghold he has set up in our minds. Continually fill our minds with Your Truth to keep us free from deception.

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About Amanda Beth

I am a wife of seventeen years, mother of four children, and author of “You Can Have a Happy Family: Steps to Enjoying Your Marriage and Children” (2013 Readers’ Favorite Silver Award) and two devotionals: “The LOVE Walk: A 15-Week Devotional on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8” and “Armor of Light: A 7-Week Devotional on Ephesians 6:10-18.” God has done an amazing work in me and my family since He rescued me thirteen years ago. Because of His unfailing love, I am passionate about sharing His love with others. You can learn more about my testimony on my blog (SharingTruths.com) and my website (AmandaBeth.net).
"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." Hebrews 10:35-36

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.Romans 12:2
The mind renewal is so important and can only be achieved with the Holy Spirit’s help. To be focused on the Word and will of God is important for one’s life to be acceptable to God.

No part of our body can do anything unless the mind (brain) sends it a signal to do it. The mind is also an essential part of our spiritual life, which is why we are told to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We need to establish a Biblical worldview, in which our FIRST response to any situation is to ask what GOD says on the matter.